The Forbidden Game
by IntellectualBadass-chan
Summary: Fragile, useless and annoying. According to Uchiha Sasuke these are all qualities Sakura possessed ; 4 years later, running into her could change his views. The only problem is, she's half dead. What will it take to change an Uchiha's mind? R&R!
1. Self Turmoil

**The Forbidden Game**

**Chapter 1- Self turmoil**

**Summary- Fragile, useless and annoying. According to Uchiha Sasuke these are all qualities she possessed ; 4 years later, running into him could change his perception drastically. The only problem is, she's half dead. What will it take to change an Uchiha's mind?**

**Words in this chapter- 2402**

**Rating- T**

**Disclaimer:**

**Dear Kishi,**

**I would like to thank you X100000 for creating Naruto. Seriously though -_-, why does Sasuke have to act like he has rabies right now? If I owned Naruto, it would honestly be called Sasuke and things wouldn't be so unfixable :(**

**AN: Hey guys :) I haven't been writing fanfiction for about 5 years haha. A lot of personal issues popped up one after another, and I guess I just forgot about fanfiction altogether. But who could really forget where you find some of the most interesting and emotional stories, that you can read at a leisurely pace? Yes I'm back on reading a billion fanfiction/day. Not really healthy for my academics, but hey I have time to spare. **

Feeling the sun's extremely bright rays warming her damp skin, Sakura stirred in her nightmare that she was desperately trying to awake from.

_Nightmare_

_Sakura screamed in terror as she saw him. The monster who stood there with 3 humps on his massive back, each bump bubbling as if they were ready to burst. He began to laugh so hard that his strong needle-like teeth bite of a quarter of his own black snake tongue. He quickly took the remains of his tongue to lap the red substance from his cheeks and neck._

_He moaned as if the taste of his own blood gave him some kind of sexual satisfaction. Sakura's eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she heard 3 measly horrifying screeches coming from the humps on Shiro's scared back. She quickly realized that those screeching humps were demanded to be nourished. _

_With a wide toothy grin, he reached out with his elastic arms to pierce the eyes of her team members. Blood was sputtering out of their eyes as they frantically tried to deal with the pain and defend themselves at the same time. Shinobi where usually trained to fight through the toughest circumstances but Sai, Kakashi and Naruto where clearly at a disadvantage with no vision. _

_Sakura was violently trembling as she stayed sprawled on the blood covered ground. She tried to reach for a kunai, something, anything that could be used to help her team but she very quickly realized that her efforts were futile. A sharp jabbing pain was ignited in her brain and spread down to her arms. Seeing him transform from a little boy into a deformed and demonic monster quickly lead to her immobility and brought on her violent shaking. _

_Still being conscious, Sakura realized that she dreamt this nightmare countless times before. She quickly closed her eyes as she anticipated the next part. With one final strike to their hearts, he killed her team and rapidly spotted her sprawled form covered in deep gashes and forming bruises. _

"_Dear little Sakura, I'm sorry to say but my play time must be over," stated the monster with an expressionless facade covering any evidence that he was truly enjoying the past events "Please don't hate me, I do not enjoy doing this one little bit. Right now I think it's time for your nap!" With a murderous glint appearing in his eyes, he suddenly laughed maniacally and proceeded to swing his arms back. Just as this fatal blow was about to penetrate her core-_

_End dream_

Sakura let out a blood curling scream and woke up coughing with sweat covering her face. Still being able to hear the echo from her scream, Sakura crawled to the bathroom to wash her face. This chain of actions soon became routine. Screaming only to wake up and crawl to the bathroom was how all her days began since she was at the age of 16.

Slipping out of her silk pastel nightgown, she quickly dressed in her ninja attire. Not much had changed about her outfit except instead of a pink skirt and leggings, she wore tight fitted black shorts. Her cherry pink hair had long since grown past her shoulders, the tresses laying over well defined curves. With eyes the same shade of vibrant green she scanned over the items in her closet for her kunai holster.

Quietly sipping her herbal tea, she realized that the days she was on her mission would be no different. The blood curling screams were extremely inconvenient especially when sleeping in a concealed campsite. Staying hidden was a vital part of this mission; of course she didn't want to be found by the wrong group of people. That would be wasting her precious time and chakra on evitable self defense. She would have to take a dreamless sleeping concoction on those nights.

With her trademark selfless personality, Sakura was always expected to be working for the benefit of others. Everyone knew that if you needed help, you could always count on her; with that said she was used to giving and never asking anything in return. That was the very reason she had never told another soul about her vivid nightmares. Asking for help seemed out of character for Sakura. She was under constant scrutiny after the departure of Uchiha Sasuke, 6 years ago. Herself, as well as Naruto finally decided to let him ago 2 years ago. They had come to realize that it did not matter how hard they trained to get him back, he would always avoid coming back to the village. Sakura had convinced herself that if she really loved him she would let him go. And so she did. Not only did she let him go but she avoided speaking of the Uchiha at all costs. She no longer had constant memories reoccur to her of their time as Team 7; they had stopped when she stopped waiting for him.

Sakura had felt something change a couple weeks ago as she woke up from the nightmares. As time drew on, the feelings and memories triggered by these disturbing images began to become more and more vivid. You would think that having the same dream everyday would make you somewhat immune to it's effects, but everyday she would feel the same sweat running down her forehead and the same shortness of breath.

_Flashback _

"_The purpose of a nightmare may vary. One thing is for sure, each nightmare has a meaning since thoughts are extracted from the subconscious mind while sleeping." _

_Sakura was now interested in this medic textbook she had found laying on a shelf in the corner of the library. She had nearly passes out from choking of dust inhalation, a thick layer covered the old binding. The spine had been torn off, removing the author's rights to the textbook. _

_She quickly checked that she had her proper identification and card to check-out the book. The librarian looked more then questioning when she asked to be helped with the unidentifiable book. It was as if she hesitated to do so._

"_Something caught your eye about this textbook didn't it?"_

"_I've been so busy at the hospital that I barely have time to read anymore you know? I could always brush up on my medical knowledge." Avoiding the question like there was no tomorrow, Sakura knew she was lying through her teeth. She just hoped the librarian did not notice. _

_Being confused, the pinkette wondered if there was information contained in the book that revealed some sort of secret. _

_`No way, Tsunade-sama would have put a million jutsus or even kept it in the Konoha containment center' she thought to herself._

_The librarians shrill voice broke Sakura's chain of thought, slightly making her jump. "Sakura dear, why are you taking out this old ratty book? There are far more advanced and up to date medical manuals available within this library! I'm sure all the information in this book is extremely outdated and would be no use to any medic. If you want to touch up on your skills, I could gladly lend you something else. We just received this new manual about advanced-." _

_Now this was beyond weird. What information could lead to such secrecy? This book was obviously not in the restricted section of the library, yet it held the same value in the librarian's eyes. _

"_I found an interesting article, so I thought I might as well take it out. No harm done in that now is there?" _

"_You know what dear, I think I might have to take it back so I can rebind the spine of the book. Do you see how it's all tattered there? It would be as good as new. In the meantime I can give you a copy of the Modern Medical. You know, the library copy wasn't supposed to be out on the shelves until next week. For you though my dear, I will make an exception." She twiddled her thumbs around nervously, her eyes darting around trying to find anything but the orbs of the pink haired kunoichi. _

_Something was fishy here. Something reeked of fish. She didn't like the way the librarian was questioning her, like she wanted to get some kind of information out of her. She felt as if the librarian had forgotten she was a kunoichi. Catching lies and interrogation were her specialties. _

"_I'm sorry but is there something wrong with taking out this manual? If you want I could get an authorization pass from Hokage-sama, not that I can see why I could need one. You only need a pass when the books are found in the restricted access area. I'm sorry but I really need to analyze the information in this exact copy ; these symptoms fill in the blanks of a puzzle I've been trying to solve for awhile."_

"_You know what, I will let you take out this book. Please, gather the information you need from the excerpts. Before you go home, you must visit Hokage-sama."_

_With that, the librarian turned around and incoherently mumbled under her breath, something about a poor child and how she had so much work ahead of her. Sakura quickly grabbed the textbook off the counter and headed to the exit. _

_End Flashback_

The sun was shining brightly throughout Konoha, a swift breezed passed through her hair lifting them from their cherry roots. Walking throughout the streets of her home city, she felt a sense of belonging. There was no way she could live in any other city and feel the same sensations she felt when the sun was shining, the birds were singing and life was perfectly good in Konoha. This was her home, something that would never change no matter what offers were given to her by pedo snakes.

`Damn.` She thought to herself, a direct Sasuke reference. To make it worse it was subconscious too.

She quickened her pace as she was near the Hokage tower. Entering the circular building, she encountered the love sick gaze of Lee. Although she had gained a world of respect for the green beast of the Leaf, she still couldn't understand his unconditional love for her. She didn't see herself as anything special, he had fallen in love with her during the Chuunin exams. At that point in her life, she was probably the weakest kunoichi physically, and mentally. The love Lee must have seen at the time must have been based upon her physical appearance, because she remembered clearly not showing the best side of her personality.

"Lee-san, I see you have returned from your mission in Land of the Waves. I hope everything went well?"

"Yosh! Of course my youthful blossom of youth! The retrieval mission for princess Yunziki was successful, our bonds with the Land of Waves must have fortified significantly! The whole country is filled with youthful youth!"

"I'm extremely glad to hear that Lee-san. Make sure if you have any injuries to report to the hospital. I'll come later to check up on you if you do."

`Shit why did I do that? Now he is going to go to the hospital even if there is no injury. Think fast Sakura...` Sakura mentally cursed her ability to speak before thinking. That habit got her into a load of different situations, which she usually used her creativity to get out of. It didn't help that her inner would stop giving an opposite opinion to whatever she was thinking. Basically if she was debated over an issue, her opinion would guide her to be the angel, and her inner would be a devil. Good thing she had a conscience, otherwise her inner would have the dominant personality.

"You know what Lee-san, let me just assess you over here."

Before Rock Lee had the chance to reply, Sakura grabbed his arm and lead him over to a bench. His eyes suddenly started to form small, growing pink hearts. Trying to keep him focused on the task at hand, she switched her state of mind into medic mode.

"Any fights or blows I should know about? Do you recall any weird occurrences, gases or smells? If so you should tell me in case any types of poisons were expelled during battle."

"Actually Sakura-chan, the weirdest youthful gas expelled was from Naruto`s youthful butt crack. Other then that, we encountered some chuunin level ninjas. The princess was kidnapped from her morning stroll by a bunch of inexperienced ninjas trying to get a bit more money. Pretty easy, if you ask me ; I guess Hokage-sama thought the princess would be held hostage under extreme surveillance."

"I'm glad that is all Lee-san. Sometimes these missions are overrated." a chuckle escaped her parted lips. "Since the mission involved a princess as a hostage, I guess Tsunade-sama wanted to make sure the mission went well. If not, war would break out between the two countries."

`Most wars break out for the smallest reasons. It doesn't help that the Fire country has a tense relationship with Oto and Lightning. We can't afford another war after Akatsuki`s repeated attempts to capture Naruto`s Jinchuuriki.` she thought grimly to herself.

"Yosh! Well I should be going to write my youthful report! I must write down all 100 pages of our youthful mission before sunset! I must go now youthful cherry blossom! Adieu!" With that, Lee's arms rested at his sides, and started to run towards the exit.

`Geez. That guy really doesn't give up does he? How does he manage to stay so happy all the time? I don't mean to be a killjoy or anything, but that's really unnatural.` Sakura quietly walked towards the iron doors barricading her sensei's office. Suppressing her monstrous strength, she knocked upon the cold metal ; anymore pressure and she was sure the door was going to dent. She would have hell to pay if she damaged the door for the 3rd time.

"Ah Sakura-san", Shizune's face peered out of the door. "Please enter, Tsunade-sama is ready to receive you now."

Softly closing the door behind her, she strutted with confidence towards her sensei.

Sakura deserved the truth, that much she knew already. Nothing could prepare her for the words she was about to hear.

AN: Thanks for reading guys :) Review Review Review!


	2. Fatigue

****The Forbidden Game****

****Chapter 2- Fatigue****

****Summary- Fragile, useless and annoying. According to Uchiha Sasuke these are all qualities she possessed ; 4 years later, running into him could change his perception drastically. The only problem is, she's half dead. What will it take to change an Uchiha's mind?****

Blah** – narrative**

Blah**` - thoughts**

**"**Blah**" - speech**

**"******Blah" - ******Sakura's inner**

****Rating- T****

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot in this fanfiction. Actually, there probably people out there who have used this plot before. So in that case, I don't own Naruto but I do own this story hahha :)****

****AN: Hey guys :) It's officially summer! Well, at least here people say it's summer but the weather sure as hell isn't showing it. It's raining, so I write write write and write. I want to give a tremendous thank you to all of you that reviewed and took time to read my story. There are over 150 people who have read this already, and that gives me the positive reinforcement I need to keep on writing. Enjoyyy (well at least I hope you do hahaha) Ja Ne!****

Sakura wasn't sure why, but her hands were starting to get sweaty and her breathing was getting shallow. Panting, she took the door handles in her calloused hands. She tried to calm herself down before facing her mentor. Getting anxious was not going to help her cope with difficult situations. At all times she had to be cool, calm and collected so that she could make decision with clarity. Finally getting herself together, she pulled open the doors and took confident strides towards the messy desk at the back of the medium sized room.

`Breath` she reminded herself.

****`We don't even know what this is about. Relax, she can't freak out at you for inquiring about a medical textbook now can she?`****

`I'm pretty sure we remember times where she has gotten a bit pissy over way less, now don't we?`

****`All I'm saying is that we shouldn't worry. There is no blame to be pushed around.`****

`Sorry, it just seemed like Tsunade told the librarian that as soon as I inquire about that text, to send me to her office.`

****`You realize we can't control this situation, because we don't even know what it is? I'm pretty sure we're over reacting`****

`It's all just really weird, something seems fishy.`

She quickly spun around to give Shizune as small but reassuring smile, almost as if to say "hey I'm okay". Shizune gave her a curt nod and gently closed the doors before exiting the room. Returning her bright gaze towards the Hokage, she gave her a bow. It was now or never, time to suck up and apologize. She usually wasn't this anxious to meet with her mentor, but today she had this feeling at the pit of her stomach that wouldn't go away. And the feeling wasn't little butterflies fluttering everywhere, it almost made her sick.

"Ohayo Tsunade-sama! For some weird reason the librarian sent me to see you. I know I was being a little pushy about borrowing that manual, but really if you don't want me to borrow it then I'm fine with that too. I think she was just joking around, how could she possibly know if you wanted to see me because of a library loan?"

Tsunade gave her a soft smile, one that put Sakura at ease. "No reason to tense up Sakura, your not in any sort of trouble. Did I ever tell you that you start to babble when your nervous? I just need to discuss some important issues with you that have come up over the last few months. I asked her to send you here if you acquired that specific medical text, but I'll explain to you later why that specific text. Now these things are to be kept confidential, is that understood?"

As if on queue, Sakura closed all of the windows and blinds. She bite her thumb to draw blood, and smeared a red line on her left forearm. After performing a series of hand signs, she quickly placed both hands on the cold linoleum floor. The entire room was now sealed. The room was naturally soundproof, but after the jutsu had been cast everything was visible to the naked eye. Any bugs, spy equipment or even the craftiest of genjutsus would be revealed. This way, they were sure no one could grasp the information but them. It was rare that Tsunade gave confidential information to Sakura, and when she did Sakura wanted to take all the right precautions to avoid letting information slip into menacing hands.

This security system of secrets could be detrimental at times as well. If all is kept confidential by the Hokage and for some reason he or she is killed, the remaining shinobi of the village had the duty of continuing were everything left off. The only way this could be efficient would be if the Hokage shared confidential information with extremely trusted shinobi. This way the village wouldn't have to start from scratch, trying to retrieve pieces of a puzzle. If the Hokage had the pieces, she would tell different trusted shinobi a piece. they could later share information and piece it all together.

"Sakura, to me your like the daughter I've never had. You are one of my precious people, a person I would give up everything to protect. Because of that, I have recently went over your files and found something odd. I found that your past information is missing. It seems like we have no record of you before you were 5 years old. No unclaimed birth certificates, missing children's reports, nada."

Sakura's eyes widened with realization.

`We have no memories whatsoever from before we were 6 years old`

****`Hey, I just thought that we forgot. But to have Konoha have no trace of us, that's really weird.`****

`Maybe we had our memories erased`

****`Possible, but why the hell would someone try to erase our memories? There would have to be a reason for it. And honestly, there is nothing too special about us to be erasing our memory.`****

Now Sakura was starting to freak out, well just a tad. She always had known that her parents were adoptive parents, but she had no idea how that came about. As far as she could remember, she could see the smiling face of her brunette mother who would often sing her lullabies before bed. Her blond father introduced her to the ninja world ; he knew that the life of a civilian was much to simple and boring for Sakura. It had been over a year she had received the news ; her parents had been slaughtered on an ANBU mission gone wrong. They were returning home when they were ambushed by ninja forces that were way beyond their skill. They had been exhausted by the 2 week mission, and to be ambushed during their vulnerable moments meant they really had no chance to survive. Even though she had completed the grief stages of healing after their deaths, the subject of her parents was still extremely tender.

"That means there is a very slim chance that you were actually born in Konoha, Sakura. A couple of weeks ago I sent a four-man squad to try and pinpoint your origins. I also had them check Intel we have established in other territories. We have checked a worldwide missing children's record, any records for missing ninja, war torn countries, anything at all. After a long search we might have a lead, but I do not want to get your hopes up."

****`We might have not been born here...`****

`What does this mean for us? Who am I?`

****`Everything happens for a reason dear. It's about time some excitement enters our life`****

`Well it seems like this is more scary for us then it is exciting. This could completely change our lives. We don't know if our parents were criminals, heroes, or even from a clan.`

Of course, Tsunade knew that one of Sakura's deepest desires were to find her birth parents. Since the death of her parents, she had been living a quiet and lonely life in a small apartment within walking distance of the hospital. If she was not home, she would be in the hospital taking double shifts at work. Her life basically consisted of brutal days of overworking herself, and simply going home to eat and sleep (and maybe drink a little). She rarely had spare time on her hands and if she did she would research medical justsu.

On her quest to find her real parents, Sakura had talked to the orphanage where she lived for a couple of months before being taken in by the Harunos. They simply said they had found her they way they had found the other orphans, afraid and alone, walking the streets of Konoha. She had never really questioned why she had a gap in her memory, or why she could have been walking the streets. Were her real parents dead? If they were and she was born in Konoha, someone was bound to recognize her. She had pink hair for Pete's sake! Did her parents abandon her? She actually really hoped that they did. That way, she could get in touch with them and learn about her strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully they were ninja, so they had some sort of family jutsu she could learn. Knowing her natural strengths and weaknesses could help her take her training that much further.

Sakura had made it clear that she did not want to make it a top priority in her life, she just wanted to meet them. She now only had Naruto, Kakashi and Sai as her family. In truth, the new team 7 was the only family the members had. They each had no significant other, mother, father or even siblings. It would be nice to meet any type of relative she could get in touch with. Even though they didn't live remotely close to each other, they all depended on each other. They had each other's back, and still had their weekly meals at the local restaurant down the the street. Even if each time they ate out, Naruto begged for ramen.

"I understand Tsunade-sama, the only thing I ask of you is that you inform me of whatever they find. Whether it be good, or bad please. I just wish you had told me sooner so I would be at least prepared emotionally for something like this." Even though her heart was beating in her head, Sakur's tone had not changed at all. That something she had tried to perfect over the years. She was nothing like she was in her childhood ; her face used to conveyed so much emotion that an enemy could probably tell when she would attack, they did not even have to look at her body language. Now that for a kunoichi was an epic fail, it was one of the first components of ninja training Tsunade had worked with her on: Emotions.

"I did want to inform you sooner, I really did. But I wasn't sure if there was just a gap in the information system, or if there was foul play from inside parties. After looking through all of this, it is pretty clear to me that we simply do not have the information. You are my most trusted pupil Sakura, I just want to know you inside out. We really don't need any surprise people popping up in the next recent years, claiming multiple things and us not having enough information to take action. It's happened in the past!"

`For all I know I could be some kind of spy, planted in Konoha`

****`This could be dangerous, for everyone. We can't let anyone know about this.`****

`I don't know if I could handle someone following me 24/7. But like you said, this could be dangerous for everyone, I should tell her.`

"Tsunade-sama, this kind of worries me. I don't remember much from before I was 6 years old. Usually kids do have at least some sort of recollection of there years. I remember reading somewhere that even if the memories are bad, the brain will have some sort of track of what happened. What if I've been planted in Konoha, please take that into consideration."

"Yes, this all does seem really odd. But honestly Sakura, nothing has happened up until now. Just tell if anything seems to change within you. It's like you didn't exist for 6 years, and then you suddenly popped up here. I informed the librarian that if you acquired any text books to do with dreams or memory, to please notify me and send you to my office. Dreams and memories are often interconnected, and if your having strange dreams then you subconscious might be trying to release a subdued memory. If it will be alright with you, I want to do some tests to see if you have any sort of memory barriers. This would be extremely helpful, and I will try to make it the less invasive as possible. "

Completely missing the parts about dreams, Sakura's mind raced to the memory barrier procedures. She was familiar with them, as she had to perform them several times on new refuges and sometimes on criminals before interrogations. She quickly nodded her head, indicating to her mentor that she had permission to perform the procedures.

"I understand. Thank you for informing me Tsunade-shisou." She really didn't know what to say, there was nothing more to really say. She slid her hands down her black combat shorts as she gave her mentor a respectful bow. She wanted to further press the issue of when she would be notified of the four-man-team's findings or when she would have to come in for the procedure, but she did not want to seem too pushy. Sakura quickly checked her watch as she gracefully leaped down the Hokage's balcony. Time for clinic duty. This was going to be a long week, but she was sure she would be able to work it though.

She had lost herself again. Too much stress, too much pressure, too many expectation. Yes, she did want to live up to her name as the Hokage's apprentice and she did often loose herself in work. The hospital was always understaffed, team after team of ANBU came in with their gory team mates clinging to life. She always witnessed too much blood, too much death. Of course she had patients die under her care, and each one hit harder on her heart than the last. She felt numb, even though she had seen it coming. It was seldom she had felt relief in this hospital, she expected herself to save more lives than loose patients. That was not always the case, sometimes more patients died than the patients that lived. `That's just the way of life here.` She thought to herself. Actually it seemed like she was trying to convince herself this was the way it was meant to be.

`We really need more staff in here, but even the best of my trainees are going to be able to work in 6 months. We're overworked and under financed, damn you elders.`

She hastily took off her medic coat. It always started off white when she put it on, and by the time she took it off it was stained in red. She saw herself for the first time in 12 hours, she gasped as her reflection stared back at her. More like her ghost, that is. She had a streak of blood running across her cheek, a few splatters on her collarbones and some of the dried substance was found in her hair.  
><strong><br>`Fuck. If this keeps up, my nurses will tire out and more mistakes will be made.` **

She shut her eyes, leaning her head against her locker. `The war between Leaf and Sound has been anticipated within the last couple of months. More and more squads are being sent out, and more and more are getting injured. There is only so many casualties before Tsunade-sama will have to declare war.`

She used a washcloth to scrub away the dirt and blood that had accumulated on her pale skin. `As soon as I get home, I'll shower and go to bed.` She bit her lip as she scrubbed a little to hard on a tough spot. Sighing, she got her small bag and put her medic coat in the laundry pile.

Sakura quickly turned to leave, only to discover that she turned way to quickly. Her head fell to the side and her legs started to give way. She leaned against the wall, trying to support herself.

**`Damn, I don't think I have enough chakra left to teleport to my house.`**

She sat down for a couple of minutes, hoping that somehow that would energize her enough to get up and cross the street to get to her apartment. Slowly using the lockers as support, she used her wobbly arms to pull herself up. She stood, and winced with each step she took to get herself out of the hospital.

With a fake smile plastered on her face, she waved goodbye to the remainder of graveyard staff. Her steps were slow, but she knew if she walked any faster she would collapse. Fumbling for the keys in her pockets, she hurried to get in her apartment. She could faint of chakra depletion at any moment, and she would rather do it inside the privacy of her own apartment.

As soon as she shut her door she got down on her knees. She figured that if she were to fall down, the less amount of damage would be done if she was closer to the ground. Falling when she was standing up would probably mean hitting her head pretty bad.

She crawled over to a small cabinet in which she kept her weapons. Gingerly taking the handles into her hands, she swung the doors open and reached her hands into the bottom shelf. Feeling around for a small velvet pouch, she finally found it way in the back. She opened the sack, and took a couple pills out. Chakra replenishing pills. They had become her go to on days like this. Sure, she could have taken soldier pills but the aftermath of the pills would drain her beyond belief. She just needed something to boost her chakra up, she just did not realize she always needed something to boost her chakra up. Feeling it start to work, Sakura pushed herself up and made her way to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of Sake, slowly sipping the contents. A bit of Tsunade had rubbed off on her after all.

A couple of weeks had passed and there was no slowing down of patient flow at the hospital. Everyday, same story. Naruto begged her all the time to take a day off, but she knew that the hospital needed her. She was the head medic, and if she took the day off the hospital would be in chaos. They were already understaffed, there was no room for anyone to even take a sick day. But once in a blue moon, there were exception. The Spring Cherry Blossom festival had come around, and Tsunade had given all squads the day off. The only duties that were given out were border patrol, and everyone had shifts of those. 2 hours patrolling a boarder was not bad at all.

Sakura took this opportunity to sleep in and cook a proper meal. After that, she sat down with a few ancient scrolls and started to crack at the texts she had been meaning to read for a while. She saw a hawk in the sky, steadily circling above her apartment. She went on to open her window, letting the swooping bird perch on her windowsill. She put her index finger on the birds back and pushed in the tiniest amount of chakra she could muster. The bird accepted her chakra, recognizing that Sakura was the individual the message was meant for. If someone else had put their chakra into the bird, it would recognize that the message was meant for someone else. The bird would then vanish in thin air. Even Sakura had no idea where it went. She took the scroll from under the majestic bird's wing and watched as it flew away.

With that, she started to make her way towards the Hokage tower. She had been waiting for this moment, for awhile.

****AN: Woahh that was probably the longest piece I've ever written for fanfiction. I know I should really get a Beta, but each one I message from the Beta program hasn't logged into Fanfiction for years. Soo I'm taking a new approach. If anyone is interested in Betaing this story, please message me. Other than that, I will be starting summer school soon so I'm not sure how often I will be able to update. Thanks for reading, and Reviewww. I give you crême brûlé if you doo :)****


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